Crying Dragon

This route is a linkup of existing routes with a little bit of new ground to allow passage up the center of the Upper Town Wall. You can now access some excellent 5.10 climbing on Rise and Fall and Green Drag-on without having to climb 5.12. The pitches listed below can be combined in a variety of ways depending on what you are looking for.

Pitches five and six are bouldery and have really fun movement. Big thanks to Alex and Cody for playing around on this route with me!

Pitch 1 - 5.9 - 90 ft

Climb the 5.9 start of Davis-Holland with fun jams and fingerlocks. This pitch is sometimes wet. Belay at two bolts on a nice ledge.

Pitch 2 - 5.10a - 100 ft

Continue up Davis-Holland, stellar fingers and thin hands in a corner. To a two bolt anchor on a sloping ledge.

With a few back cleaning shenanigans the 2nd pitch of Davis-Holland can be combined with the next pitch which yields an amazing 55m pitch of 5.10 climbing.

Pitch 3 - 5.10c - 100 feet - 8 Bolts

From the belay look up and right for a lone bolt with a black painted hanger. Undercling across the roof, per the right variation of the Davis-Holland, and then step right to a perfect jug under the bolt. Execute a short trickey section which yields a horizontal (#2 camalot) and some moderate face climbing to get onto the second pitch of Rise and Fall. Skip the belay out right and clip another black painted bolt up and to the left.

Follow amazing crystal edges up a dike passed 6 spaced bolts. This is the second pitch of Rise and Fall. The crux comes at the end getting past two different roofs. Belay at a good stance with three bolts.

Pitch 4 - 5.10d - 75 feet - 2 bolts

Start up Rise and Fall passing one bolt until you reach a finger crack. Get some gear and step right below a bolt that is on Green Drag-on. Clip this and continue up to a two bolt anchor under a roof. (This is the end of pitch 3 of Green Drag-on).

Clip the anchor for pro and make a hard move to get established in the steep crack that exits the right side of the roof. Sustained 5.10 crack climbing leads to a stance on the left with two bolts. This anchor is not setup for rappel, so if you want to bail you need to aid up and left on Green Drag-on or climb the next pitch and rappel Town Crier. It is possible to split this into two 40 foot pitches but there is no reason to do so and the P3 anchor on Green Drag-on is fully hanging and an awful place to belay.

Pitch 5 - 5.11c/d - 40 feet - 4 bolts

Climb up the corner with some thin gear to a good jug. Clip a shiny bolt out right. (The bolts above and to the left are for Green Drag-on) A balancy section leads to a tenuous second clip. There are holds, if you look in the right places! Keep working right with a powerful section past the third bolt. Clip the final bolt and step right to the three bolt anchor on Town Crier.

Pitch 6 - 5.11d - 105 feet - 2 bolts.

Start up the flare on Town Crier and clip a few pins that can be backed up with thin gear. Execute a sweet layback sequence (crux) to get established on a flexy flake. Crank past the flake, 2 bolts protect, and then immediately start traversing left on an obvious horizontal crack. (Going up further is the 5.12+ crux pitch of Town Crier)

Twenty feet of sweet jugs bring you back to the Green Drag-on. Follow the final 50 feet of 5.10 crack climbing to an anchor on a busy ledge.

The #3 is useful for the last pitch but everything else above #.75 is not necessary for the last two pitches.

This route starts on the Davis-Holland and finishes on Green Drag-on.

There are many ways to rappel. I suggest going down Green Drag-on and then swinging left to Rise and Fall (clipping a bolt as a directional helps). I prefer this way since it is very very hard to rappel to the Green Drag-on Anchor under the roof. A 60m Rope is sufficient.

You can also rappel down Town Crier with a 60m rope.

3x green and yellow aliens plus a double rack to #1 Camalot with a single #2, #3, #4.

All anchors are bolted.

The most gear demanding pitch is the 2nd pitch of the Davis-Holland.